What if~The Cold War had actually got Hot?
Ever since the USA dropped Atomic Bombs on Japan which helped it not just become the biggest Superpower in the world, but also a Nuclear Superpower. For years, their rivals, the USSR tried to duplicate that power, and they had in the early 1950's. Another world war was in the news, either it be Soviet boots and Tanks in Europe. Or the world ending in a blinding flash of Nuclear Missiles. Ever since the USA and the USSR built Nuclear Missile Silos dangerously close to their respective home nations, the threat of an all out nuclear war had dominated societies in both nations and even inspired fantasy media. But what if in an alternate reality, the Cold War had really gone hot, and would the world would be how we depict it in movies and Video Games? This is what this page will try to cover, but first some historical context, just scroll down to the "What if?" part of this page if you just want to read about the alternate scenario. Real History Ever since the USA created the Atomic Bombs and used them to make Japan wave the white flag, other nations have tried to try to make their very own Nuclear bomb, the USSR was the second nation as they successfully detonated a Nuclear bomb back in the early 1950. But ever since the USA had constructed Nuclear Missile Silos in Turkey and the USSR discovered about it, they went ahead and constructed Nuclear Missiles of their own, in Cuba, and sparking off the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963. Thankfully, this didn't happen as both nations came to a Happy Medium. But there was another time (pretty much an anti-climatic event according to historians), it was in 1983 (my birth year) when the Cold War could've gone hot *clearly* by accident. But that doesn't mean it could get hot by somebody falling on the "shiny red button". It could've began with a satellite glitch. In 1983, tensions between the USA and the USSR turned sour once again as then President Ronald Reagan said in a press conference that he refers the USSR as an "Empire of Evil." This (of course) infuriated the Soviet Government and population as they were none too pleased about Reagan's recent statement. It also didn't help matters much when on September 1 still in 1983 Korean Airlines Flight 7 was flying from Anchorage to Seoul was shot down. The Plabe was briefly flying over Soviet air space, the Soviets assumed it was a US Spy Plane and Soviet Jet Fighters scrambled to intercept. The plane crashed in the Sea of Japan just 40 miles from the Sakahlin Island, everybody on board the plane died (including a US Senator). As a response the Soviets have created a Nuclear Missile detecting satellite, but on September 26 it has detected around 5 blinding lights coming from the earth, believing that it was a Nuclear Missile detonation. But the person that saw the glitch was a man named Stanislav Petrov. He used his judgement and following common practice that if the USA were to launch at the USSR, it would involve hundreds of missiles instead of 5, Petrov didn't notified his superiors (which is a clear violation of orders). What if? Now, what if the Cold War had actually gone hot? Now, turning up the heat on the Cold war isn't easy, especially on that day in 1983. The "Blinding Light" the Soviet Nuclear Missile detecting satellite saw was a mistake, it saw sunlight refracting off of clouds (believing it to be a Nuclear Blast). But let's say in this alternate reality, Petrov wasn't on call that day and the young Soviet officers see the alarm and they get the order to launch their nukes. Soviet Nukes are now heading to their targets in the USA. This also set off the Nuke alarms in the USA, and they also get the order to launch their missiles as well. It's quite difficult to find exactly where the nukes will be launched to since neither the USA nor the USSR made any maps telling us where exactly their nukes will go. But theoretically, primary will be the other's nuclear missile silos, preventing any more being launched. Then, it would be military insyallations (e.g., Army Camps, Air Bases, Naval Ports). Then it'll be centers of Government, Financial Hubs and even heavy population centers. Around an hour later, the Soviet Nukes reach their targets in the USA, the entire eastern seaboard and the west coast are scorched in Nuclear flames, around the same time, the US Nukes reach their targets in the USSR. But the nukes aren't just in the USA and the USSR, by 1983 there were other nations that also have Nuclear Weapons such as in Europe (both sides) and even China. The war itself lasts for only a few hours or a day. As you can tell already, the majority of the Northern Hemisphere would be dead, North America, Europe, Russia and even Asia would be a radiated as well as the Oceans and Atmosphere, around 74% (nearly three quarters) of the entire world population would also be gone. But humans would survive after the initial war. Though most of the world would return to the stone age since the Nukes would emit strong EMPs (electromagnetic pulses) which would zap every electronic device invented for the time. There would be humans either in Alaska or Siberia, but it is doubtful that they would rebuild from the war, since most of the Northern Hemisphere is now a radioactive wasteland and with no technology to rebuild, it is nearly impossible. Plus the fact that humans would have to deal with the devastating after effects of the war, such as radiated air and water, making food production impossible, causing widespread famine. With nearly all of the major cities of the Northern Hemisphere in ruins, and with more displaced (as in losing their homes) this would also create possibly the worst refugee crisis Mankind has even seen. The Southern Hemisphere would remain virtually unblemished by the nukes, and most of the people in this region already live in primitive lives compared to the Northern Hemisphere, nevertheless they will also feel the long term after effects of the war, with water radiated and the soil unfit for irrigation, food and water shortages will quickly rise and the fight for whatever clean food and water would ensue, because this scenario (thankfully) didn't happen it is impossible to predict to know what exactly would happen during the fight for precious resources. But, there may be a ray of hope. Countries that survived unscathed such as Brazil, South Africa, and Australia could be strong enough to try to compensate for the major loss of the war and would even make an attempt to rebuild most of the world devastated by Nuclear Fallout by the time if the 2020's in this alternate reality. That is all for this page, what would you think if the Cold War had gotten hot? Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis, until next time this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.